Monsieur Carven

I would put this in the same league as Chanel Pour Monsieur, and Estee Lauder For Men. Very approachable, as the civet is not too strong and the patchouli rather soft. A whiff from the bottle smells light and delicious. Once applied, the aroma is good at hiding what is a complex formulation, as it takes time for notes to change prominence on your skin. The initial spray starts out a bit floral, but that gradually backs off into the dry down and allows the fragrance to become a little more masculine. In any case, I'd say this really could be worn by women as well. On my skin, the longevity is a little lacking. This seems to be one of those fragrances where you need to layer it in order to get a good lasting effect. But I'd say it's worth it if you can get a bottle while staying under the going prices for Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree (ounce for ounce). Unfortunately, this has been rather hard to do. The major drawback to Monsieur Carven is the availability. For the most part, this fragrance has been overpriced on "that auction site" mainly due to scarcity of auctions and one must balance out price/value. IMHO, a mere 2oz bottle is not worth $175 (one seller persistently seems to think so, and has had their auction going for many months with no buys). Around the time of authoring this, a recent seller has in stock a fairly large number of bottles (more than 10 available) and after a few slow sales they decided to run some open auctions (as opposed to BIN with offer). I got one for a very decent price. But to be very matter of fact, if an equivalent sized bottle of Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree is priced less than a bottle of this, I'd take it instead of the Carven. But that's me... each person will have their own particular preference. At least the good thing is that 5ml mini bottles appear fairly often and so you can get yourself some to try out before going on the hunt for a 2oz or larger bottle. That's what I did. Fragrance: 9.0/10; Value: 7/10

Pure masterpiece. It's autumn and the laziness of winter in a bottle. A bubble of cocooning. Nothing offensive or dark, it evokes a walk on dead leaves in autumn. Every note is very soft, a whispering carnation, the cinnamon and sandalwood are there to add some warmth and the civet lights it with a very, very little animal notes in head and medium notes. The basenotes are rounder with the coconut and vanilla ( you don't smell them obviously, but you know they are there with the feeling you get at the end , after several hours) It lasts for ages on wool. Such a pity, it's not any more available.

Wonderful cologne for gentlemen, full strength old-fashioned goodness. But the prices for vintage bottles - sheesh! If one is lucky, one stumbles upon a bottle being sold by someone who doesn't know better, or doesn't care. Alphairone sums it all up very well, just below. Alas my thrift shop $2 bottle has just a couple more wears left in it. 🥺

I had it for many years. What a wonderful scent, purely magic. It had a strong personality, you could identify it immediately, a signature. It's really a pity that Carven suppressed it. Some things shouldn't disappear.

Simply put,"MASTERPIECE" nothing at all smells quite like it,worth every penny.Most people I came across NEVER heard of this MAGNIFICENT SCENT,you'll DEFINETLY stand out in a GREAT way...